


Exodus

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-27
Updated: 2007-09-26
Packaged: 2017-10-07 00:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Boogeyman isn't dead, but Molly may have found someone that can help them get away from the Boogeyman. (Set after Season 1's finale)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Setting The Stage

I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.  
Aeschylus

"I know the way out from here," Mohinder was saying, piling up everyone into a random car that DL had managed to start. Mohinder had done his best to get the bleeding to stop, but DL still had that faint sheen of sweat that set Niki's teeth on edge.

"We need a hospital," Niki hissed, hand over DL's wound. Micah sat next to her in the backseat and watched as Molly climbed into the passenger seat and buckled herself in.

"I know where we need to go. I've found someone close that can help us."

Everyone turned to stare at Molly, who gave them all a luminous smile. "She's just over the bridge, and she'll help us all."

***

"This isn't what I meant when I said that you should visit more often," Annika said with a smile, accepting the teacup she was handed. She was nestled in her favorite armchair, a quilt over her lap. She was pushing seventy years old, but could easily pass for someone fifteen years younger if her gout didn't always start acting up. She had three Siamese cats who swished their way through the living room, casting curious glances up at their visitor, Madison Vincent.

Madison smiled at Annika. "I meant to come over anyway. This was just a great excuse." She sat down next to Annika on the couch with a cup of tea. "I've already cleared my schedule for the afternoon, just so you know."

"Oh, dear. Cassidy can't have liked that."

"I promised her two appointments next week," Madison replied with a grin. She shrugged, then sipped at her tea. She looked down at herself. She was dressed in jeans and an old T-shirt she had taken from her husband's side of the closet, and her dark brown hair was pulled back into a messy braid. She was hardly dressed to go back to work, anyway.

"You're going to make the others upset."

"Well, if Cassidy sets another building on fire..."

Annika laughed. "Good point. The poor girl is at least getting her powers under control, thanks to you." She nodded at Madison, who shrugged. "Oh, don't be modest, dear. She needed more than an ear, and you know it."

"You know how it goes. Even psychiatrists save lives," Madison said with a grin.

"Speaking of which..." Annika handed her the teacup in her hand. "Take this. I'm going to have to walk around anyway."

"Annika..."

"Hush, you. I had one of those dreams again the other night. I wrote it down, since it pertains to you and not one of your ten."

Madison's brows knitted in concern as she watched Annika awkwardly get up and move to her bookcase. "Me? Since when did you dream about me?"

"Not since you first arrived, that's for sure. You and Brian need to be careful. It deals with the two of you, specifically. Your ten will grow to twelve direct patients. They look strange, but the child and the woman need you. They'll protest, but you'll know it when you see them. The man bleeding isn't the main concern for you."

"Bleeding? What?" Madison put the teacup down on the coffee table and went to Annika's side. There was a faint sketch in the notebook, as well as a general description of the dream. "Bald but young, bleeding to save another. Tears for the girl and one not her mother." Madison made a face and shook her head. "That's even less sense than you usually get, Annika."

"Humph. It's still a Dream," Annika replied loftily. Madison could almost hear the capital D in her voice. "You'd best get to your office, just the same."

"And you..."

"Will have other cups of tea," Annika replied with a smile. She took her notebook back and waved off her friend. "You can visit me again tomorrow. Destiny awaits you."

"You know... I could've used these warnings when I was seventeen," Madison groused.

"You didn't live here yet, and you didn't need them then," Annika replied sweetly. "There now, don't make a fuss. Go help those people."

Madison shook her head and then kissed Annika's cheek. "I know, I know. Saving lives, and all that. You'd think your warning system would give a little more time to prepare..."

Annika said nothing as Madison took her leave. She flipped to the next page in her little notebook. There was a sketch of a face she didn't recognize, with hollows for eyes and a broken watch on his wrist. That dream had been full of death. She knew her time was up, and she knew that it was at least going to be for a good cause. There was a greater plan in motion, and they would all have to do their part. Madison was more than strong enough for it, even if she didn't think so just yet.

***

There was a woman in jeans, a ratty college T shirt and a messy brown braid stepping out of a shiny car in the parking lot of the low building that Molly had insisted was their destination. Mohinder shut off the engine to his car and eyed DL in the backseat. He still had that sheen of sweat on his brow, his eyes shut in pain. It had been two and a half hours of solid driving, and he was sure that the bumps on the road hadn't felt all that good. He left the car and approached the woman getting out of the car. She looked to be in her mid to late thirties, though she could have easily passed for someone younger.

"Miss? Miss, we need some help..."

"You are?" she asked, brown eyes narrowing slightly.

"Our friend is hurt," Mohinder said in reply, pointing back to the car. "If you could help us find someone who could do something..."

She walked to the car with Mohinder, her jaw set in determination. Though Molly had never failed to find anyone before, he couldn't help but wonder if her powers were starting to fail.

The brunette looked at DL in the backseat, Niki still pressing a bloody rolled-up shirt to his wound. She looked from Niki to Mohinder. "That's possibly infected. What were you thinking?"

"You need to help him," Niki insisted, voice tight with anger and fear.

The brunette whipped her head around to give a nasty retort to Niki. DL at that moment reached up and touched Niki's arm. "Nik. Don't... I'll be all right..."

"No," Niki replied, leaning down as her eyes began to water. "You shouldn't have taken that bullet for me. That should have been me," she added in a soft whisper.

The brunette heard it, instantly going pale. She looked down at DL again, really _looked,_ and then dug around in her jeans pocket and hitting one of the preprogrammed numbers before Mohinder could stop her. "Hey, Patty, it's Maddy. Is Brian around?"

Mohinder eyed the woman warily, aware that Molly was beaming at this point. Molly was absolutely certain this woman could help them. He still wasn't so sure.

"Bri, it's Maddy." She eyed DL and then turned to Mohinder. "Get him into my office," she hissed, handing a key ring over from her other pocket. She isolated the proper key and nodded toward the low building. "No, no, I'm all right. We need Darcy here with his kit at my office." There was a pause as her lips tightened. "Annika said so, that's why." Madison blew out a breath at whatever Brian told her. "No, not my ten. Just... No, Brian, this is not the time for that. Just get Darcy here. He'll need antibiotics and possibly an IV set for a gut infection." She watched as Mohinder went to the side door and Niki helped DL out of the back seat with some difficulty. The children followed them. "I'm going to do what I can, but we need Darcy here. I'm no surgeon." She sighed. "As soon as I know what's going on, of course. They only just arrived. Tell Darcy to go to the side entrance. I'll leave it open for him." She listened for a time and nodded, though Brian couldn't see her. "Okay, honey. Love you."

She hung up and raced into the building.

Mohinder had found the office labeled "Dr. Madison Vincent" easily enough. It was the only name that could have possibly belonged to a Maddy, since the others were decidedly not M names. He was troubled by the titles beneath her name. _Child and Adolescent Psychiatry_ and _Adult Psychiatry_ were stenciled on the opaque glass in clear print. They didn't need a psychiatrist. They needed a surgeon.

The doctor in question raced into the building and grabbed the keys from Mohinder without preamble. She opened the office and gestured inside with her head. She then headed for the reception area, where she began digging around in one of the desks. She returned with a first aid kit, and then dug around in the closet in her office. She came up with a black box that was unlabeled. In the meantime, Niki had laid DL on the floor.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Vincent," Madison said, a doctorly smile on her face. "What's your name?"

"DL," he replied, opening his eyes.

"Okay, DL. I'm actually a psychiatrist, but I'm going to play surgeon until my EMT friend can arrive. How does that sound?"

"As long as I live, sounds fine," he said, trying to smile at the woman in front of him. He was dizzy with blood loss, and normally the thought of someone digging around in his insides was enough to give him pause. Right now, he was too lightheaded to really care.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Madison asked, moving to remove the layers of cloth covering the wound.

"Got shot in the gut. Took it so Niki wouldn't get hurt."

"I don't have an ACLS kit here, so I don't have any lidocaine. It's going to hurt while I take a look at the wound," Madison said, opening the black box. Inside was a small zippered leather case, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, alcohol swabs and a box of scalpel blades. Mohinder started at the sight of it; what psychiatrist kept scalpels in her office?

"As long as it gets out, s'okay with me."

"Spectacular," Madison replied with a falsely bright smile. Niki hovered on the other side of DL, clutching his hand. She eyed Niki as she took out the zippered case. "It won't be pretty."

"It never is," Niki replied in a low tone. Something flickered in her eyes, and Madison nodded.

The case was a dissection kit. She prodded the wound with one of the probes, pulling the edges slightly apart. She was just inserting long handled tweezers when the side door to the building banged open. Madison pulled the bullet out as a man ran into the office, a large bag in hand.

"Maddy, only you..." the blonde man began. "Well, shit, what the hell happened here?"

"Got shot," DL supplied helpfully. Niki glared at him, and then at the blonde man.

Unperturbed, he moved to Niki's side. "Well, that looks nasty. It'll stain your carpet."

Madison snorted. "Business expense, Darcy. I didn't dig that far, though."

"Well, on the bright side, that means we won't have to hit up the emergency room for bowel repair," Darcy replied. He opened up his bag as Madison started to reach for the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "Don't even. I brought antibiotic wash."

The tightness that had been in Madison's face throughout all of this vanished. She grinned at Darcy. "Good man. You take over, then."

"Still remember how to insert an IV?" Darcy laughed at Madison's expression. "Can you at least start the set?"

"That, I can do." She rummaged around in his bag for the proper tubing and pulled out a bag of solution. "Will Ringer's do?" Darcy nodded as he washed out the wound and took a look at the extent of it for himself. "What?" she asked when he whistled.

"Pretty neat entry, didn't go too far... Glancing shot?" he asked, looking over at DL. DL shook his head and then closed his eyes. "Well, it'll be a pain, but we definitely don't need to visit the ER today. At least, I don't think so. I brought IV antibiotics just in case." He watched Madison run the solution through the tubing. "Hey, you actually do remember how to start a set."

Madison stuck her tongue out at Darcy. "Shut up," she said affectionately. She waited until all the bubbles were out of the tubing before stopping the flow. She handed the IV needle to Darcy, holding the bag aloft in her left hand. "Here."

Everyone watched as Darcy started the line and the IV began. He dug around in the bag next, getting out sterile packing material and sterile gauze to bind the wound. Madison played assistant as best as she could with one hand, and after a while Niki helped as well.

"You do know how to throw a party, Maddy," Darcy joked as he injected the antibiotic into the IV line. "You should invite me sooner next time." He laughed when Madison made a face at him. "You know, when Brian called, I thought it was Cassidy again."

Madison groaned. "Don't remind me. No, I canceled all my appointments today."

"Annika?"

"Annika."

The others watched the conversation in confusion. Molly was the only one that looked even halfway confident.

"Is the colchicine working out?"

"She stopped taking it." Madison shook her head. "She said it was interfering with the early alert system we have going."

Darcy clucked his tongue sympathetically. "That sucks. I'll head on over, then. My shift doesn't start until five today."

"That'll be good. She was still hobbling around the house when I left."

"You're good here, then?"

Madison made a face as she looked from the IV bag she was still holding to the stained bandage on DL's abdomen. "As good as this can possibly get."

"You're such a bleeding heart," Darcy teased. "Call Brian. He sounded pissed."

"It's Annika's fault. Tell her that when you see her, will you? I got all of twenty minutes' lead time on this." Madison sounded annoyed, but it only made Darcy smile.

"What? Did you think destiny would mark itself on your desk calendar?"

Madison stuck her tongue out at him again. "Oh, get out, you. I think we'll be okay for now. I'll call Brian. Tell Annika that today's disaster is dealt with. Well, hopefully." She looked around, eyeing the two children and three adults.

"Hey, call me if anything happens."

"Will do," Madison promised, nodding. She waited until Darcy left the building to look around at everyone. "Do I get any kind of explanation here?"

"Do this often?" Niki asked, a snide edge to her tone. She blinked in surprise when the fear that had been choking her fell away and she was calm again.

"Let's just say that emergencies can happen, and we prepare for it."

"You said you have an early alert system," Mohinder noted.

"We do," Madison agreed. She made no further comment.

Niki grabbed Madison's arm in a crushingly tight grip. "Tell me."

Madison looked Niki in the eye, and Niki could feel her prior fear crash down over her. Not knowing why, she let go of Madison and scuttled back a bit. "It's safer if you don't know."

Molly came to sit down next to Madison. "I knew you would help us," she said brightly, ignoring the warning looks Mohinder was sending her.

"Really? How did you know that?"

"I find people," Molly admitted, a soft smile on her face. "I knew I would find someone who could help us."

Madison blinked in surprise, then smiled just as softly. Her entire demeanor seemed to shift ever so slightly. "Something happened, didn't it?"

Molly nodded. "The Boogeyman. He's still alive," she added, looking up at Mohinder with fear in her eyes. "The man with the sword didn't kill him."

Madison's eyebrows crawled up toward her hairline. "The Boogeyman. Killed with a sword?"

"The Boogeyman killed my parents. And he shot Officer Parkman with his own bullets," Molly added, her lower lip trembling. "He's after us. He's after all of us."

"How do you shoot someone with their own bullets?" Madison asked, brows furrowing.

"He stopped them with his mind," Molly answered, even thought Niki and Mohinder were obviously trying to shush her. "And then he threw them back with his mind. Officer Parkman is one of my heroes," Molly whispered, eyes watering. "He saved me from the Boogeyman when he came to get my parents."

"Did he save you this time, too?" Madison asked, voice soft, almost lilting. Molly nodded. "Then he's doubly a hero, isn't he?" Molly nodded again. "He's a police officer," Madison guessed. Molly nodded, biting her lip. "It's what they do. When they put on the uniform and get their badge, they take an oath to serve and protect. They save lives."

"Like doctors do," the boy piped up from where he was sitting on the floor behind the girl.

Madison nodded, smiling. "Like doctors do. You know we take an oath, too?" Molly shook her head. "We do. We take an oath when we graduate and get our white coats. We promise to save lives, too. Maybe he's okay. DL here was shot, and he should be okay."

Molly shook her head. "There were six bullets. At once. I counted."

Mohinder looked away, as if he wished she hadn't said that. Madison caught it and looked up sharply. "What happened?"

"There's... There's a man named Sylar..." Madison's mouth opened in recognition. "You've heard of him?" Mohinder asked, surprised.

"My husband's the Sheriff here. Of course I've heard of him."

"That's not something that would be general knowledge," Mohinder replied.

"We keep an eye on things like that."

Mohinder and Madison eyed each other, trying to judge how much to tell each other.

"We need help," Molly said, breaking the silence. "The Boogeyman is still alive. And he's going to be really mad when he finds us."

Madison looked at the girl, lips pursed as she thought. Finally, she came to a decision. "Don't worry, honey. We have an alert system for something like this. Anything that could hurt people like us... It won't happen."

"Like us?" Niki asked, curious.

The brunette's lips quirked sardonically. "There's an underground around these parts. So I guess you really did find someone who could help you," Madison said, looking at Molly. "There's others here, and we have a system to protect them. You just got enrolled."

Molly smiled. "My name is Molly."

"Hi, Molly. I'm Dr. Vincent. Nice to meet you." She smiled when Molly giggled, and she looked over at Niki. "And you are?"

"Niki," she replied. "DL's my husband, and that's my son Micah."

"Mohinder Suresh," Mohinder added.

"We'll have to find a place for you to stay the night," Madison said with a nod. She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I'll ask Brian when I call him. We'll figure something out."

"What do you do?" Micah asked, curious.

Madison's lips quirked. "I'm a psychiatrist."

"No, I mean powers."

She smiled indulgently. "You don't have to worry about that, okay? It's nothing big."

"So, you're also gifted?" Mohinder asked, his voice almost eager. His researcher's mind was already starting to whirr with questions.

"I'm a doctor," Madison replied, a slight edge to her voice. Mohinder instantly knew he had overstepped an invisible boundary. "In any case, you hold this. I have phone calls to make."

He took the IV bag and watched as she left the room. "Are you sure this was the right place to go, Molly?" he asked uncertainly.

She smiled brilliantly, nodding. "She'll save us from the Boogeyman. She's another hero."

***  
***


	2. Mounting Tensions

"I don't like this."

Madison was rubbing her face, avoiding Brian's pointed gaze. He had black hair, which only made his pale blue eyes look more piercing than they already were. He was tall and lanky, a runner's build. He could bench press her weight, and that had nothing to do with powers. A little stray lightning... that was better left unmentioned.

"Maddy..."

"Annika's Dream had us helping them," she explained tiredly. "You know how that works."

"Yes, I know. She's the one that told me where to find you," Brian pointed out. He crossed his arms over his chest. "But right now, there's five people I don't know in one of my safe houses. They're apparently refugees from a Sylar attack and lived through it. And how do I know that he's not following them here? We have enough on our plate as it is. The network is going to be overloaded if he comes here and they have to flee..."

"I know, Brian," Madison said, looking up tiredly. "God, don't you think I know how important this is? But at the same time, we have our jobs to do."

Brian pulled Madison up from her seat on the couch. He folded her into a tight embrace. "She's not telling us something," Brian murmured. "This isn't like her."

"The girl... She's seen some awful things..."

"Uh oh. I know that tone..."

"What? It's what I do! You couldn't feel the pain she was trying to hide, Brian... Oh, God, it _hurt_ to feel it."

"Maddy..."

"I can't _not_ do something about it."

Brian closed his eyes as he nodded. "Yeah, I know." He pulled back and gave her a wan smile. "I do know that. C'mon. Let's at least have dinner together before the storm hits, all right?"

Madison laughed. "The little monsters return from Stamford in three weeks, Brian. We've got three more weeks of peace and quiet." She shook her head. "And for the record, I'm not doing the turkey this year. I've learned my lesson. Your mom can have the honors."

Brian laughed with her. "Let's go over to Ginger's. I think she told Ben that she's making lemon meringue tonight." He patted her stomach gently.

"Yeah, I'm not in the mood to cook, either." She smiled brightly at Brian.

"Can't you _make_ yourself get in the mood?" he teased.

She swatted his arm. "Watch it, buster. I'll turn you into a 'fraidy-cat faster than you can blink."

"Promises, promises," Brian said, cheerfully grabbing their coats from the rack near the front door. He sobered as his hand fell onto the front doorknob. "Just... if you do take them on as patients, be careful. I don't... Something's not right about this."

Madison sobered as well, and caught his hand in hers. "I know. But I've got to do something."

"Yeah." He gave her hand a squeeze. "We both do."

***

"Mommy hid me when the noises started," Molly said in a hushed tone, stacking blocks in Madison's office. It was terribly juvenile, but it was something to do with her hands. Also, she didn't have to look at Madison's face or hair, which for a split second had reminded her of her mother. Molly could remember the concern that masked the fear. They had been well off, and her mother was always a worrier. She had always worried that there were going to be break ins, that Molly would be kidnapped coming off the school bus, that there would be fires and the entire family would be trapped inside.

"You didn't see it," Madison guessed.

"I could hear it." Molly whispered, a block tight in her fist. "I still can."

Madison slowly uncurled her fist and removed the block. "Tell me about them." Molly looked up, biting her lip. "Tell me the things that made them your parents. The little things nobody else know about them."

Molly found herself smiling and laughing as she talked about her father's model trains in the basement, the visits to the park and the beach, her mother's quirky habit of getting cookbooks she never opened but always said she wanted to read. Her father would play softball with her, and they would look at the video games at Best Buy. Her mother liked to garden while she was at school, and there were always fresh cut flowers on the dining room table. Even so, her father liked to sit in the living room and watch TV during dinner, and Molly liked doing her homework on the living room floor with her parents talking about work or the news. Molly looked up at Madison, and somehow it didn't hurt so much that Madison reminded her of her mother anymore. It was almost comforting to know that somewhere was someone that looked just like her mother who was looking after little kids.

"Tell me about the boogeyman," Madison said in a hushed tone. "What are we fighting against?" she asked. "What's he like?"

"He's made of shadows," Molly said, stacking the blocks again. Her face tightened, and her hands shook slightly. "He moves things with his mind. He threw the lady against the wall, and he likes to show off. He has a tight grip when he grabbed me the one time. He wants people scared of him. He wants their powers, and he wants people afraid of him."

"Why do you think that is, Molly?"

Molly shrugged. "Dunno. I know he wants to do what I can do. I hear the people talk around me, and I know that's what he does."

"Maybe," Madison agreed. "But why do you think he wants people afraid of him?"

"So he can take their powers?"

Madison smiled. "Ever get teased in school?" Molly nodded. "Well, why do you think they do it to you?"

"'Cause they're mean."

"Yes, but sometimes it's because they don't think they're very good kids themselves. Sometimes they're jealous. Did you know that?" Molly shook her head. "I think the boogeyman is the same way. He wants people scared of him, right? Sometimes people like that think if they're scary, they're stronger than you. They're more important if they're scary."

"That's just silly. If you're scary, people run away from you. How can you be stronger then?"

"Well, I didn't say the boogeyman wasn't silly," Madison replied, smiling. "But sometimes, people do things or say things to put down people in order to make themselves feel better. They don't like who they are, and they want you think they're somebody different. I like how you call him the boogeyman."

"Really?"

"Yup. You know the boogeyman in the closet usually isn't something scary. And he's just a man, even with his scary powers. He still feels, still gets afraid."

"He didn't look afraid."

"It's a different kind of fear. He's afraid he'll never be important, never be somebody good, never be someone that people would like. So if he makes you afraid of him, it's okay that he's all alone. He's better than you, anyway."

"I get it," Molly said with a solemn nod.

"Do you get nightmares?" Madison asked, pulling out paper and crayons. Molly nodded, looking at Madison with shining eyes. "How about we draw a little?" Madison sat down across from Molly at the low play table. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"I remember Mommy screaming," Molly said, reaching for a brown crayon. "I heard the stairs cracking, and Mommy was screaming. And then she just... stopped... and that was worse than the screaming was."

"You knew."

Molly nodded. "Officer Parkman didn't scream," Molly whispered. She drew a circle on the paper in front of her. "He fell, but he didn't scream. Not like Mommy did."

"Sometimes people like that know it's scarier to scream." Madison picked out a pink crayon. "And people like police officers or doctors or nurses or things like that... Our job is protect people and take care of them the best as we can." She drew a heart on her piece of paper and began to color it in. "Sometimes caring people like that, we give our lives to protect others. It's part of what we do."

Molly felt her fear drain away. It was almost as if it was running down a drain. There was still the ache when she thought of her mother, of the screaming and the stopping, the awful silence when she knew that mother's fears had come true. There was still the awful gaping hole in her chest when she thought of Officer Parkman falling to the ground, the boogeyman smiling his evil smile of triumph. Still, there was a sense of calm about her. It happened, but it didn't hurt the same way, and she could think about it without wanting to crumble to pieces.

"We do what we can," Madison was saying, finishing her pink heart. "Whatever we can, however we can." She pushed over the heart. "They wanted you to be safe, Molly."

"Will I be?" she asked in a small voice.

Madison's smile was assuring, and Molly found herself smiling back. "Of course you will."

Molly nodded. "Niki was screaming last night. She had a bad dream. You should talk to her about her dreams, too. I think she had a nightmare about her husband, since he was the only one to get her to calm down."

"Is she afraid of the boogeyman, too?"

"She didn't know about the boogeyman. She didn't know until after, and she hit him across the head with a parking meter. It's kinda funny, but I didn't laugh when she did it. She looked kind of scary, actually. Like... Like you know, she would've hit him until his head exploded and kept going. She looked really mad."

"Huh. She must be really strong, then."

Molly nodded and looked down at the brown circle on her piece of paper. "I'm not a good artist."

"S'okay. Neither am I. I'm a better talker. You're a good talker, too."

Molly beamed. "I feel better now. Mohinder promised me ice cream afterward."

"Tell him to go to Ginger's Diner off of Baker Street. They have lemon meringue pie, too."

Molly laughed, then sobered. "Mom tried once. The meringue fell down. Dad was better at baking pies and cakes than Mom, but she made really good lasagna."

"She's a good Mom," Madison said softly, patting Molly's hand. "I'll bet she's real proud of you."

The girl nodded, looking up. "Said I was her bestest girl ever."

Madison smiled at her. "Go on, bestest girl ever. Tell Niki I'll meet her tomorrow."

After Molly left the office, Madison cleared away the toys and blocks and crayons. She closed her eyes, still feeling the essence of panic beneath her skin. She pushed it away, into the ether, and opened her eyes. There were still three more patients that afternoon, and then she would be able to contemplate Sylar and the Hiding Business, as Brian put it. Madison sat at her desk and looked over the family photo on her desk. If Sylar had come after her twins, she would have acted just like Molly's mother. Hell, if he came anywhere near her patients, she would do the same. She had found this tiny little town and fell in love with it. She had fallen into medicine by accident, but it had fit, and she took it seriously. She had met Brian by accident, and they had fit; he had even adopted her children as his own. And now she met more gifted people by accident, and there had to be a point to it somewhere.

Destiny was calling, and she would follow its path wherever it led.

***

Niki waited until the last possible moment to head to Madison's office. Molly had insisted, loudly, and then Micah had chimed in. Niki had managed to rebuff most of their efforts, but then Micah played dirty and involved DL. She had wound up promising DL that she would at least talk to the psychiatrist, but she refused to promise anything further. She didn't know if it would serve as a trigger to make Jessica come out; Jessica didn't seem to like psychiatrists very much. Hell, Jessica didn't like anyone coming close to them at all. Lately, that had become a good thing. As much as Niki had hated being trapped inside her own body and unable to act, Jessica had been able to do the things that she couldn't. At least, Niki had always thought she couldn't be the strong one. That had been Jessica's job. Her sister had been the strong one, hiding Niki and taking the blows for both of them. She was older by six minutes, and it was her job to protect her little sister.

The secretary at the front desk was just locking up her desk as Niki walked into the building. "I have an appointment."

"Oh, yes. Dr. Vincent mentioned she would have a walk-in today. Nicole, I think she said?"

Niki wanted to shout that it wasn't her name, wasn't anything like her name anymore. Instead, she nodded and walked down the hallway that the secretary pointed to. She could hear voices down the hall, and she rose to the balls of her feet. She moved quietly down the hall, just in case.

"Oh, come on, Doc. I'll be fine..."

"No, Cassidy, I mean it. Control first."

"You don't understand! It's just... I didn't mean it." The girl named Cassidy sighed. She sounded young, probably teenaged. Niki remembered being sixteen; it had involved lots of alcohol, lots of pot and lots of messing around. Maybe if she'd had a psychiatrist back then, she wouldn't be more comfortable with a stripper's pole than an office desk.

"If they catch you, they'll kill you." There was an edge to Madison's voice that Niki didn't recognize, a hard and commanding tone.

"You're telling me to never use my powers!" Cassidy raged.

"You're not listening, Cassidy," Madison sighed. "I didn't say _never,_ I just said not to do it out in the open."

"Well, isn't that the same thing?"

"Of course not. How do we practice here?"

Cassidy made a humming sound as she thought. "Well, those incense thingies..."

"Exactly. You can still practice and get control if you stay in your room. Use incense, candles, paper in a safe garbage bin... You have to think smart. You don't want to let the entire world know what you can do, and you still need to learn how to control it."

"No one saw me at the deli..."

"Not good enough. One day, someone will notice, and you'll find yourself missing."

Niki shivered at the grim tone of Madison's voice. What in the world was going on here?

"All right, doc. I promise. I have a few candles in my room already. You know, it's hard to get them lit just right? I never thought about trying to put them out."

"Well, there you go. Until next week, then."

"Aw, man. I wanted to go to the beach."

"You still can."

"Not in Florida. Marcy and Trevor were going to take me with them this summer."

"Well, we'll see how you do. Try practicing for another two or three weeks. If it works out well, then we'll have you come in every two weeks. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan, doc. Thanks!"

Niki stepped back as a redhead with gray eyes bounced out of the room in a belly shirt and short shorts. The redhead stopped short. "Oh. You're the next victim, huh? Go on in, she's all done torturing me." The girl smiled sweetly, then bounced out of the office.

Madison stood in the doorway, shaking her head. "Just ignore that. She has an odd sense of humor sometimes." They went into the office and she shut the door. Niki sat at the proffered chair. "Thanks for coming in so quickly."

"Well, you wanted to see me," Niki replied, her tone almost sullen. She looked around the office, taking in the details she missed. There were the diplomas, certificates and large bookcase stuffed to the brim with texts and journals. There was the desk, the shut closet, a low table with toys and crayons and paper. This was a far cry from a prison conference area, and there was no mirrored metronome in sight. Jessica might have taken a step back, but Niki didn't trust her.

Madison asked the usual questions about her background and psychiatric history. The moment she asked about a history of abuse, Niki felt herself being pulled back into a foggy ether. She opened her mouth to protest -- _No, Jessica, don't!_ \-- and it was already too late.

"I don't think you should be asking about that," Jessica said, voice laced with an unvoiced threat.

The psychiatrist's lips quirked into something like a smile. "Oh? It seems I've touched a nerve there. That's quite the change that's come over you."

"We're leaving," Jessica hissed. Niki wanted to scream that she made a mistake, she shouldn't have come out.

Jessica froze mid-rise. She was terrified suddenly, choking on the fear that she was going to be broken in two by her own sister, the one she wanted to protect. Her sister didn't need her, didn't want her, and thought she was a burden. Niki didn't love her, not the way she loved Niki. Niki's family didn't even like her, and she knew it. Everything she had ever done was for Niki, to protect her from the world, but no one understood the sacrifices she had to make in order to get things done. They would turn on her, they would rip her to ribbons.

Niki took in a deep breath as she was pushed back to the surface. "Oh. You shouldn't have done that," she warned Madison. "Whatever just happened, you shouldn't have done it."

"Who was that, Niki?" Madison asked, voice soft.

"You don't want to mess with her," Niki warned. "She'll hurt you without even thinking twice."

Madison's grin was slow and almost malicious. "I can handle myself, Niki. Who was she?"

For a split second, Madison's grin looked like Jessica's in the mirror. For a split second, Niki almost thought that Jessica had leapt out of her body and into Madison's. Then the moment passed, and Madison looked like a psychiatrist again, dressed in a button down blouse and dress pants, notepad in hand.

"Jessica," Niki said finally. Tension that had collected in her chest uncoiled. She felt safe here, as though maybe someone would finally understand. "She was my sister. And... I don't know how, but now she's with me all the time."

"Do you get missing time?"

Niki nodded slowly. "It's her. It's when she's out and I'm locked up. But sometimes it's like I'm watching her do things, but I can't do a thing about it. I can't push her away unless she wants to leave. I'm not as strong as her."

"Is there anyone else with you?" Niki shook her head. "Are you sure?" After a long moment, Niki shrugged. "All right. Tell me what it was like. Tell me why she has to be here."

"She doesn't, though. She needs to leave."

"She serves a purpose, Niki. She can only leave if you don't need her anymore." Madison put her notepad down on the desk and leaned forward slightly in her chair. "Why did you need her, Niki? Why did she have to be there?"

To her shock, Niki began to cry. Suddenly she was a child again, and there was her twin sister standing next to her. _I'll always take care of you, Niki. Don't you worry. Dad won't ever get a chance to hurt you. I'll make sure of it._

"Our dad," Niki began, her throat closing up in pain. "He was an alcoholic." Madison made some kind of soothing noise, and Niki sucked in a breath. Her throat seemed to ease somewhat. "Why am I even telling you this? This isn't any of your business."

"Have you ever talked to anyone about this before?"

"I was in AA..."

"I meant Jessica."

Niki fell silent. After a moment, she shook her head. "I don't want anyone to know about her. She's dangerous. She's killed people."

"Maybe you need to ask her why. Maybe you need to figure out why she's there."

"I told you. She just is."

Niki's panic drained away, leaving her numb. It was hard to feel anything anymore, but it was almost comforting. It was nice not to have to worry about everything.

"Why don't we start at the beginning?" Madison asked, her voice soothing.

Niki found herself nodding. "Okay." She looked up at Madison, looking her most vulnerable. "Will you tell anyone else?"

Madison shook her head. "Patient confidentiality. Unless you tell me you're suicidal or planning to kill someone, nothing leaves this room."

"All right," Niki murmured. She tried to feel upset about something, but it was hard to even find that emotion anymore. She looked at Madison quizzically. "You did something."

"Maybe you need a little time without the worry. Maybe when you're calm, things will make more sense to you."

Niki was aware that it wasn't a clear answer, but it seemed to be the only reply she was going to get. Somehow, she wasn't upset by that. If Madison had a power, if she could do something, then maybe she could help Niki figure out this strength thing. It didn't happen all the time, and it scared her when it did.

More at ease, Niki began to talk.

***

_they took a car and took the bridge the girl told them where to go but there were no directions i could hear where would they go and why wouldn't she tell them where? why would they trust a little girl to lead the way? if wishes were fishes my sight would be as sharp as my ears and i could find them and take what is rightfully mine and i'll be the only one the only special one in the world and i could even be president_

_but first to find them to tell a tale none would suspect to find them?_

Fingers coated in slime skipped across concrete, beginning to sketch. When his eyes opened, he could see the make and model of the car in question and part of a license plate.

His lips stretched in a rictus grin.

_we'll be together really soon..._

***  
***


	3. Lightning Storm

Mohinder Suresh was waiting outside of the office building later that week. Molly had told Madison that he was outside of the building, so she wasn't surprised. Molly was the last appointment of the day, and had insisted on staying with Madison while she locked up. "I want to be like you someday," Molly confided, a sweet smile on her face. She insisted on carrying Madison's laptop bag, knowing that all of the clinic's patient files were on it. "Is it hard being a doctor? Can I be a hero like you?"

"Well, you're a smart girl. Once you settle down someplace, you should be able to do just fine."

"I need to find the next good place, then," Molly said, nodding. "Nothing's coming up right now."

"I guess you need a little more time with me, then."

Molly handed over the laptop bag and got into the passenger seat. "I don't mind that," she said.

"You don't mind what?" Mohinder asked.

"Staying," Molly chirped.

Mohinder watched Madison shoulder her bag and turn toward her car. "Dr. Vincent, can I have a moment to speak with you?"

She could feel the curiosity emanating from blocks away. Sighing, she turned. "It's been a long day," she began.

"I understand," Mohinder said hastily, holding up a hand. He stepped closer and pitched his voice lower. "There are questions I'd like to ask you. Niki told me about the session you had with her earlier this week..."

"That's certainly her prerogative, but I won't violate doctor-patient confidentiality..."

"No, nothing like that. I've been doing research..."

Madison's demeanor instantly froze over. "I'm aware of your research, Dr. Suresh."

"Wouldn't you want to discover the extent of it? Your children may benefit?

"They are the best mistake I ever made," Madison began, voice harsh. "And as a result, I am ever more vigilant about making future mistakes. I won't participate in your study, Doctor."

"This is invaluable research..." Mohinder felt a tremor of dread begin to curl in his stomach. He looked at her in wonder. "But Dr. Vincent..."

_"Doctor,_ I will not be part of your study. I already know exactly what I can do. It's called _empathy,_ Doctor. I can feel and project emotions. That's all. Nothing flashy, nothing that anyone should ever know about it. It's invaluable in my practice, but that's the extent of it."

"You counsel others," Mohinder began earnestly. By the way her jaw tightened, he instantly knew that he had made a mistake.

"You will not come after my practice, do you understand?"

"If you can just mention the research... Maybe I can help them..."

"Doctor, we were here before you ever thought to take your research to this country." Her lips pressed into a grim line at the sight of his surprise. "I've read your father's book. It's brilliant, and entirely too prescient for the country's level of comfort. You'd start a panic, Doctor Suresh. And in the midst of that panic, there could be no exodus. Thousands-- because you know there's going to be thousands of us-- are going to be killed. Take a step back and _think_ about that becoming a reality. What people don't understand gets destroyed. I'm not going to be part of it, and I have done what I can for my patients."

"Doctor..."

"Don't push," Madison snapped. "I don't abuse my skills, but trust me, I can if I need to."

Mohinder's jaws snapped shut with a click. She wasn't anything like Zane... rather, like the Zane that Sylar pretended to be. She was more like Dale, come to think of it. Dale had been very comfortable with what she could do, and had come up with her own means of coping. Dale hadn't needed him any more than Madison did.

"I'm sorry I bothered you," Mohinder said with a final nod. "We'll stay as long as you need to see Molly and Niki. After that, we'll leave."

Madison nodded. "All right, then. Good night."

Mohinder watched Madison walk away, then got into the car next to Molly. "Well, that didn't go so well."

She shrugged. "There's others, you know. Some aren't comfortable like she is. And anyway, Niki must have changed her mind. She's not at the hotel anymore. She went to that diner. Maybe we should meet her there?"

Mohinder started the car and drove toward the diner. Molly began to sing along to the radio, her voice off-key. He found himself smiling in spite of his frustration.

***

"I told you they were bad news," Brian warned. He looked over at Darcy and his girlfriend Gina, who was a nurse at the local hospital. "I think Maddy's let her doctor self take over too quickly on this one. Sam told us that it was only a matter of time before Suresh caught wind of any of us, and now he's on to Maddy."

"She's going to pitch a hissy fit if she knew you were talking about her this way," Gina warned.

"I know. She's taken them on as patients anyway. Now there's twelve of them we have to worry about, plus the other three that came into town."

"So now what?" Darcy asked, leaning back in his chair. "I know we're ready for anything."

"Sam doesn't have access into the files anymore," Brian groused. "I'd like to know if Sylar's really dead or not. The girl said he had been stabbed. Of course everything else has been taken down off of the FBI database."

"So we have to operate without it. It's not like we don't already have our own warning system," Darcy reminded him.

Brian shook his head. "She doesn't look well. If Annika ever gets sick, our warning system will never be able to work properly."

"Then we just have to let our people know and move them sooner if we have to," Gina replied, shrugging. "If Sylar's tracking Suresh, it's only a matter of time before he gets here if he's still alive." She looked from Brian's drawn face to Darcy's hopeful one. "We said we'd protect them, right? So we just step up the exodus if we have to."

Brian rubbed at his face. "I just... I _know_ this, but I can't help but feel like Maddy's caught up in the middle of this and she shouldn't be."

Darcy started laughing. "Brian, none of us should be. But if we're going to protect you and Maddy, we're going to protect them all. That's it."

Brian leaned back in his chair and smiled wanly at Darcy. "You're a good friend, Darcy."

"Of course I am. And when you and Maddy finally have kids, you are naming it after me."

"Good thing you have a gender neutral name," Brian teased. Gina laughed outright as Darcy mock-glowered him. "All right, all right. I'll stop worrying. For now, at least. Annika hasn't called either of us on anything. I just get this feeling..."

"Stop it," Darcy teased. "That's Maddy's job."

Brian laughed and stood up. "All right, you two. Get out of my office and let me work for a change. You've got other lives to save."

"Damn right," Gina chirped. She grinned at Brian and waved brightly. "See you later."

The smile on Brian's face slowly died as they left. Whatever they said, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

_Please God, wherever you are, please just let this end well._

***

"He's here."

Mohinder looked over at Molly. They were sitting in the park, waiting for it to be dinnertime. They had promised to meet the others for dinner, and they had taken the car into town to get new clothes for everyone. Molly had been tired that morning, and hadn't wanted to go out. Now she turned her wide eyes to him, and she looked terrified.

"Molly? Who's here?"

"The Boogeyman. He found us. He can't do what I do, but he _found us."_

Her terror was palpable. "We need to find the others."

Mohinder watched as Molly's attention shifted. "They're driving down Main Street. They must have finished early and are going back to the hotel."

"Then that's where we need to be." He grasped her hand firmly. "We'll get out of here, Molly. Don't worry. We're going to be safe."

"The others here won't be."

Mohinder didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think about anything right now, actually. Molly had just started to come out of her shell, too. The small town had lulled him into a sense of security, and now his panic was back in full force.

Why couldn't Sylar just stay dead?

***

The house was just at the end of a cul-de-sac, with pretty white flowers nestled against the fence and pink ones in the boxes hung outside the windows. It looked exactly like the painting should have looked, if Sylar had used paint and not excrement.

He knocked on the door, and was startled to see an older woman answer the door. He had expected to see Mohinder Suresh, and had expected to have the joy of crushing his windpipe and throwing him across the room with telepathy.

"Hello," he murmured, nodding his head.

"Ah," the woman replied, eyeing him. "Were you expecting to see someone else? Are you Alison's cousin? She moved out a few months ago, I'm afraid. She didn't tell me where."

Confused, Sylar allowed the woman to draw him into the home. It was quaint, with classic countryside touches. "It's very nice here," he said, watching the woman. She was reaching for the phone. "Are you calling someone?"

"Oh, I was about to call my niece. I think she may have Alison's number."

Sylar looked at the pictures on the wall politely as the woman made her phone call. It was easy to hear the conversation even though he tried to distract himself. "Hello, dear. So lovely to catch you before you go away on your trip." He pursed his lips and looked at the shelves of books. There was a broken clock on one shelf, the kind encased in a glass dome. Its gears had long since stopped moving, and it was likely kept just for show. He could find the error, of course. It wasn't hard to tease out. The gears had been loose, then stuck together with grime. "I'm having a guest for tea, of course. My special blend. I just wanted to speak with you beforehand and wish you well. Oh, and do you have Alison's number?"

Sylar put the clock back as the woman hung up. "You don't have to give me tea."

"Oh, don't be silly. I don't get visitors often. Why don't we make an occasion of it?"

His mother hated visitors and hated surprises. This woman ran completely counter to what he was used to, and he somehow found himself being drawn into her easy smile. He found himself smiling back, more like Gabriel than Sylar, and sat down at the sunny kitchen table. He watched her take out the delicate porcelain cups and pull the kettle from the stove where it had been warming up. "Would you like oatmeal as well? I was about to have some."

"It's afternoon," Sylar reminded her.

"Well, it's still almost dinnertime for me, and that is so much easier to make." She held up her hands in front of him, displaying her gnarled knuckles. "A seamstress long ago, you know. It does quite the number on your hands." She laughed as easily as she had with the niece on the phone, and Sylar was disconcerted. He wasn't used to this kind of casual acceptance.

She set out two bowls of oatmeal and two cups of tea. They smelled like almonds, with a bitter edge to it. "Thank you," he replied, more to have something to say. Something didn't feel right about the situation, the easy smile she kept giving him. It was almost _too_ reassuring, and he could feel that there was _something_ wrong with her. Something was off in her time, a subtle shake in her voice and tremor in her hands.

Her heart tripped once, a frightened triple beat as she picked up her cup of tea. "To our health," she toasted sweetly.

Sylar lifted his cup but did not drink from it. He left the cup at his lips, the liquid never spilling over the edge of porcelain. The scent of bitter almonds was strong, almost nauseatingly so. He watched as the old woman tipped the entire cup of tea into her mouth, drinking almost greedily. Her hand shook as she put the cup down on the saucer, then lifted the spoon of oatmeal to her mouth. Her eyes watered, and she looked up, suddenly aware that Sylar hadn't put the cup back down on the table.

It was still full when it was settled back down on the saucer.

"Drink up," she rasped, trying to smile. It came out more like a grimace.

Sylar abruptly stood up, knocking over his chair. His memory ticked over the evidence, and it came into sharp relief. "Cyanide," he hissed.

He watched the woman die, feeling no pity for the pain she endured. She brought it on herself, really. He wasn't even here for the old woman. He had no idea who she was, or why she would have wanted to poison herself and take him with her.

His eyes narrowed as he contemplated this. The cyanide in her system would render her useless to him. If she had a power, he would never be able to take it now. He couldn't risk poisoning himself just to get at some unknown power. It had to be some form of precognition, something that would allow her to recognize him.

She had to be warning someone. Someone with another power, someone she cared for. He didn't think it was really a niece now, but it was still someone that she cared about deeply. Whatever her name was, she had just made a huge tactical error. He would never have bothered looking after this woman's kin. He never would have even stayed if not for her backward ploy to detain him and poison him. He would have passed her by, not even thinking she had a power. There was no sense about her, and she hadn't been on Suresh's list.

Who else was out there that wasn't on his list? He would never be able to find them now. The program was destroyed, and he was rapidly running out of names to go after. If Suresh was around, Sylar would have cheerfully throttled him.

He found the old woman's phone. She even had a recall button on it. He hit the button, and watched the number spool forth on the display. It rang, but no one picked up. The voice mail kicked in. "Hi, it's Madison. Looks like we've missed each other. Tag, you're it! Leave a message and I'll get back to you." _beep!_

Sylar hung up the phone without leaving a message. Madison.

He tore through the living room until he found what looked like a personal address book. He flipped through it, comparing names and numbers to the number he had seen on the old woman's phone. He finally hit on it, finding an office, home and cell phone number. Addresses were written in a neat copperplate hand. It was still technically business hours, and this woman would be at work.

His lips stretched into a grimace of a smile.

"Tag. You're it."

***

Madison's last patient of the day canceled due to car trouble. She used the time to go through lab results and other paperwork, music playing softly behind her. It was a rare opportunity for her, as it meant she was likely going to go home early.

Her cell phone rang, startling her. She had forgotten to silence it, which wasn't like her. She picked it up and looked at the caller. Annika.

"Annika, what is it?" she asked, immediately concerned.

Annika's voice was light hearted. "Hello, dear." For a moment, Madison could feel herself calming down. Nothing new, then. "So lovely to catch you before you go away on your trip."

Fear curled in Madison's stomach. "What?" she whispered. _The code._

Annika laughed, and Madison could hear the relief laced in it. She had been tired of the pain in her joints, tired of visions being displayed as nightmares. She enjoyed life, to be sure, but she wouldn't miss the painful aspects of it.

"I'm having a guest for tea, of course. My special blend. I just wanted to speak with you beforehand and wish you well. Oh, and do you have Alison's number?"

Madison's throat closed. This was it, then. "I'll look for it. I'll miss you, Annika."

Her laughter was genuine now. "Of course you will, dear. I expect to hear from you soon."

"Goodbye, Annika," Madison whispered, tears filling her eyes. Annika had been more of a mother to her than her own biological mother had been. This felt like tearing out a piece of her chest and throwing it away.

"Goodbye, dear. Be well."

And then she was gone.

Madison let the tears fall freely as she looked numbly at her phone. While they had planned it for a long time, she never thought the day would come when their emergency system would have to be used. It _hurt._

She dialed a familiar number as she wiped at her eyes. "Hi, Jody. Is Brian in his office?" she asked with false cheerfulness. The police department secretary chatted with her for a minute, then passed her along to Brian.

"Maddy?"

"Exodus one through twelve. Now."

She hung up, not waiting for his response. She knew what would have to happen now. They all knew. Putting her phone in her pocket, she began shutting down her laptop. All of her patient notes were on it. That would have to be stored somewhere. The office fireproof safe was the first place to look. Her special patients' files were all coded, but it never hurt to be safe. There was the building's safe, which was harder to get to. It was in the basement, in a room next to the boiler. The deposits for the different buildings were stored there during the day, each office having a separate locked compartment within the room. That would be the perfect place.

She headed for the basement, mind on autopilot. Now was not the time for thinking. Now was the time to let instinct take over, to let the plan run its course.

The sky looked impossibly bright. Lightning cracked across the sky, even so.

Dread curled in her stomach, and she had nowhere to send it to.

***  
***


	4. Confrontation

Brian was spitting out every vile curse he knew. He hadn't always worked in a small town, so he knew quite a few interesting ones. The original ten gifted people on their list had been evacuated smoothly. They had been expecting it for some time. Even Cassidy hadn't uttered a peep, and he had expected her to yell. Instead, she had gone deathly pale and apologized for not keeping her skills in check. Brian had no idea that she even had a sense of responsibility, and had to chalk that up to Madison's influence.

Still, he couldn't help but blame this group from New York. This was their fault. Their town was tiny and had been working well. No one had known about them, and no one would have thought to check for them. They had run a tight ship, allowing their people to train in peace and live out their lives. Now these five had upset everything.

He found them in the hotel room, already packing. The little girl was crying, and the boy was sitting next to her, trying to be comforting. "But the Boogeyman's _here,"_ she was saying. "I don't know how he found us, but he's here." She looked up at Brian. "I'm so sorry, Officer. I don't know if he can do what I do."

Brian didn't know how to respond to that. Hell, he didn't even know what her power was. It didn't matter, anyway. Whatever it was, Sylar simply couldn't have it. She fell under their purview, the same as Madison's patients did. He looked at the five faces staring up at him, and cleared his throat. The choice was easy, and made long before they actually had shown up. If anything, they were lucky that they had been _here,_ and not some other random small town with no plan for protection. "I need to get you over to Darcy. He'll take you by ambulance over to the hospital. Once there, it'll be easy enough to hide all of you until Gina can get you out of town."

The woman looked at her husband and then back at Brian. Something hard flickered in her eyes for a moment. "What do we do?"

At least she was no-nonsense. Brian nodded. "Come with me. We need to move fast. I don't know what kind of time we have, but it's probably not very much."

"With Sylar, it never is," Mohinder agreed.

Brian tried very hard not to hate him. So far, he was failing miserably.

***

_Need._

Madison could feel the raw hunger as she exited the basement. It was close, but she couldn't tell if it was in the building just yet. She'd never really tested the outer limits of her ability before, and now she regretted that. She couldn't know if this hunger was just outside the building's door or a mile away or ten miles away. Molly would know, but Molly would also be safely out of town or on her way to being safely out of town. Madison carried that knowledge with her. _At least something went right with this..._

She unlocked her office door and stepped inside the room, feeling her anxiety winding tightly all around her.

Wait a minute. She hadn't locked her office door when she went to the basement.

Madison whirled around and saw a man standing by the coat rack. He had a lanky build, dark hair, hollows under his eyes and a slick grin.

_No. No, no,_ no! _This can't be happening!_ Madison thought in a panic. Still, she schooled her face to look more passive. This was precisely the kind of thing that was covered in her training. Whatever she was feeling didn't have to show on her face. She'd faced psychosis and outright homicidal behavior. Surely, she could face someone wanted to carve her brain out of her skull.

Okay, maybe not.

"Who are you?" she asked, thankful that her voice didn't waver. Sylar didn't move. "You don't have an appointment."

His smile only widened. "Your friend is dead. She has strange ideas about what makes tea."

Madison could feel the blood draining from her face. "What?" she breathed.

"Cyanide. The scent gives it away, you know." He circled her, and she stepped forward. He was trying to wedge himself between her and the door, but she would knock him backward if she had to in order to get away.

"You didn't answer. Who are you?"

He laughed, and the sound of it crawled down her spine. "Come now. You shrink heads for a living. You should be smarter than that."

"I only know what people tell me," Madison replied calmly. "I'm a psychiatrist, not a mind reader." She pushed the emotions down, and could feel it drain away. Only Sylar's curiosity and hunger remained, but she could deal with that.

Sylar's eyes glittered, as if responding to a challenge. Madison didn't think that he toyed with people very often; he looked ready to pounce. Knowledge crashed down on her. There was no way she could get out of this alive. The most she could hope for was that she could somehow manage to make her brain worthless to him.

"You know who I am," he replied. There was an edge to his voice. "Don't think you can change that, doctor."

Madison edged sideways, and Sylar's smile seemed to take a razor's edge. She tried not to think of all the movies or news articles played up patient violence. She watched him circle her, a shark converging on its prey. Heart pounding in her chest, she knew it was only a matter of time before he got tired of playing with her.

She threw her fear at him, pushing it into his chest with all the force she could muster. She amplified it the moment she saw his eyes widen slightly. Sylar swayed slightly, then stepped back to keep his balance.

Madison took the moment to run.

Hope rose within her, crazily. She dared to dream that she could get away, that maybe she could save herself from the inevitable. The moment she felt an invisible hand close over her throat, the hope died swiftly.

She had made it outside, and Sylar threw her into the brick exterior. Madison saw stars as the back of her head hit the wall. _Concussion,_ the clinical part of her mind began. The feeling part of her seethed. She had been so _close._ Her car hadn't been even ten feet away from the exit, and she could have at least run the bastard over before she sped away.

Sylar's calm, pleased face swam into her vision. He was holding her up against the wall, just above his height. Her feet dangled, kicking ineffectually at him. "You should stop that. You're wasting your precious oxygen."

He was so calm as he said it, as he lifted a hand and pointed an index finger at her face. Anger poured through her veins as she reached for his head. Her thumbs sank into his eye sockets, as she _pushed_ with all of her might. Madison could feel Sylar's anger swell, nearly choking her. He had never been hurt like this before. Briefly, images of Brian and her children flashed through her mind. _If only..._

Madison pushed her anger into him and stoked his own to fever pitch. The invisible hand at her throat squeezed tighter, and Sylar's flesh hands closed over her shoulders. He shook her, yelling at her unintelligibly. Spittle flew from his mouth, and he looked even more frightening now than before. She tightened her grip on Sylar's head and pushed his anger even further.

Now he was completely out of control. Angry beyond all reason, Sylar began to beat Madison's head into the brick wall. He couldn't hear her cries of pain beneath his screams of rage, and wouldn't have cared if he had. She _hurt_ him. She dared to fight back, and the only other one to do so was Peter Petrelli. Petrelli was still alive somewhere, possibly, maybe, he wasn't entirely sure. But this bitch was here, in his hands, shattering against the brick wall. She couldn't get away. She couldn't escape his anger.

And then it was gone. The anger abruptly died. Her dead hands fell away from his face, and she made a wet sound as she fell from his grasp.

Not knowing where he was going, Sylar stumbled off in the direction of the wooded area outside of town. He remembered the way, the distances, the directions. He couldn't see anything, but his memory was pitch perfect. He had survived one injury. Surely he could survive another, and he would figure out how to proceed.

He didn't need eyes to be perfect. He would just find new ones. His journey was more difficult now, but it certainly wasn't at an end.

He would find Suresh another day.

***

"I can't find Dr. Vincent!" the girl cried suddenly, nearly pitching herself forward and out of the ambulance. She struggled in Darcy's arms, arms and legs flailing. Some of her panic was picking up steam, and Darcy was having trouble keeping her still. The blonde was trying to calm her down, but the girl was having none of it.

"What does she mean, she can't find Maddy?" Brian asked, hand on his car door. He had just been about to close his patrol car door. In one moment, he was mentioning that they would be safe and he would go find Madison. And the next, the little girl had started screaming that she couldn't find her.

Mohinder Suresh looked almost ashen. "She finds people," he said, looking at Brian helplessly. "All she has to do is think about someone, and she knows where they are."

Now he knew why they were so desperate to hide her, why Madison was so insistent that they be saved along with her patients. Sylar would love to get his hands on her skill, and it would instantly make it impossible to hide anyone ever again.

He looked at Mohinder with a blank expression. "All right. But I don't understand... why can't she find Maddy, then?"

"As long as someone's alive, she can find them," Mohinder said slowly.

Brian's eyes widened and he looked over at Darcy with a horrified expression. Darcy stopped struggling with the girl – Molly, Brian remembered suddenly – and she ran up to him. "Please, Officer, this can't be good! We have to go now!"

_Sylar._

It didn't make any sense, but everything in Brian was screaming at him that it was all Sylar's fault. He had come to their town looking for these five people, and had found Madison instead. It didn't make any kind of rational sense, but that didn't matter anymore. Having special abilities didn't make rational sense anyway. There was no reasonable explanation why he had been able to generate lightning bolts from his fingertips. There was no reasonable explanation why Madison had been able to manipulate emotions. There was no reasonable explanation why Cassidy could manipulate fire, or Molly could find people just by thinking of them. None of it made sense, no matter what Mohinder Suresh wanted to think.

"Darcy, we have to get to the clinic," Brian said, voice firm. "She would be there trying to hide her patient files."

He nodded and closed up the ambulance. Brian took everyone back into the cruiser, and he flipped on the lights and sirens. Darcy did the same in the ambulance.

Brian was praying the entire way that he was wrong, that nothing had happened and he was in a panic for no reason. Madison was fine, the files were safe, and they were going to be all right. The twins would be returning for the holidays soon enough, and they would all joke about how his mother would have to do Thanksgiving this year. They would find out if Madison was just late because of stress or if he was going to be a father. Annika would protest, as she did every year, but would ultimately come along for the family dinner. Everything was going to be fine, and it was going to happen the way it did every year.

The hope died the moment he saw Madison's car in the parking lot. It was nearly six o'clock, and it wasn't one of her evening clinic days. She should have left a half hour ago, and should be pulling into their driveway.

Brian didn't wait for the others. He ran for the side entrance, hand over his gun. If that bastard had come anywhere near—

He stopped short, looking at the building in horror. He couldn't take in the sight of his wife's crumpled body, blood and brains spattered across the old and crumbling brick. He saw the blank and glassy eyes, the sprawled limbs and blood on her hands. Her mouth was open, and already he could feel his world shattering to pieces.

Brian whirled around and raced toward Molly. "You have to find him. You find him _now,_ and I'm going to finish this!"

"I don't think this will help," Mohinder began, reaching out to touch Brian's shoulder. "We don't know what happened here..."

"Damn it, don't patronize me! We all know what happened here!" Brian pointed to the building behind him, dimly aware that he was screaming. "That bastard followed you all here and now he's killed her!"

Molly was shrinking back behind the blonde woman, the boy holding her hand tightly. She looked at Brian with wide eyes, frightened more of his rage than of Sylar. The Boogeyman had gone far away, far enough that they were all safe. He was still moving, probably on foot. He was moving slowly, but moving away. She didn't know exactly where he was since there was no map in front of her, but he was _away._ Wasn't that the point of this?

Mohinder did his best to try to calm Brian, but soon had to try to duck the punch aimed at his head. "This isn't solving anything!" Mohinder cried, holding up one arm. "We have to get out of here, like you planned for us!"

Brian held clenched fists at his sides. "He came here because of you. She's _dead_ because of you. If you hadn't come here..."

"She knew what had to be done," the blonde woman called out. Her husband was looking at Brian in sympathy, but remained silent. "We all know, don't we? Do what you can to slow him down and do what you can to keep him from taking your power. She did that." There was a flash of emotion, something showing in her face, a sorrow and a sharp bitterness that Brian couldn't place. "We have to keep this going, otherwise she died for nothing."

It was exactly what Madison would have said, and the words hit Brian in the chest. She was gone, dead at Sylar's hands, and nothing could bring her back.

He sank to his knees and covered his face in his hands. This was why he left the city for a small town. This was why he worked so hard on their contingency plans. This was why he had tried so hard to do what needed to be done to help others. It didn't stop the pain, didn't stop him from feeling her loss so keenly.

Darcy shut off his sirens and lights. "Brian, I'm taking them to the hospital. Gina will do her thing, and I'm going to call everyone else." Brian didn't respond, and Darcy sighed. "You guys, into the ambulance. Go." They followed this time, even Molly. They sat silently as the ambulance doors swung shut, and listened quietly as Darcy called in the murder. "Brian's at the site, but he can't start to set up the perimeter. Get a team over as soon as you can."

Sometimes there was no justice.

***

Annika's car was an old sedan that was roomy and well maintained. She had stopped driving years ago, and Gina had bought it off of her the year before for a pittance. Gina was now giving the car away, signing over the title and a hand written bill of sale. "You'll have to file paperwork at some point, if you want to keep it legal," she pointed out. "But in the meantime, you've got transportation that can't link you back for a while. You can go anywhere, and it's probably safer if you get the hell outta Dodge."

"I'm sorry about what happened," Niki said quietly, voice somewhat raw. Her eyes were dry.

"She's a good woman," DL added as he shook Gina's hand. "You've all done good things here. I hope you get repaid for it someday."

"We're going to continue her work," Mohinder began, voice almost hesitant. "In our own way, I suppose. We'll make sure that others with special abilities are safe and aren't being hunted. I think she would have liked that."

Gina pressed her lips together as she nodded and shook his head. "Yeah. She was all about that, you know. That would be good."

"I know where we need to go," Molly piped up, tugging on Mohinder's sleeve.

Gina watched them all drive away, one hand lifted in farewell. Eyes shining with unshed tears, she made her way back to the hospital. Her next shift would be starting soon. There were more lives to save, and each one of them was special.

 

The End.


End file.
